The Road to Forgiveness
by ruby dragon
Summary: Seifer, tormented by his past, decides to confront it. What does he, and the others around him, do when his plan backfires?
1. Default Chapter

The Road to Forgiveness chapter I

As the sun started to set, three figures sitting on the pier were illuminated. The sun glowed briefly, looking one last time on the world, and then sinking slowly past the horizon. The warmth of the sun still lingered, but the harsh glow had disappeared. The stars started to twinkle in the sky, and the full moon was seen, like a ghost hovering in the sky, before it was hidden from view by smoky clouds.

One of the figures slowly got to their feet, and stretched. He was seventeen years old, and was a large, burly man, dark-skinned, and well-built. He then pulled up one of his companions, a small, tough-looking woman, seventeen, well-built, and she was an albino.

"Yo, Fujin, when are we gonna get somethin' to eat? I'm starving, ya know?" The dark man said to the albino woman.

"WAIT," said Fujin impatiently.

"Why?"

"SEIFER."

"No, I'm OK for the moment. You and Raijin can go and get something. I'll meet you back at the cabin, OK?" The third person slowly got to his feet. He was six foot two, with short, blonde hair. He was now eighteen years old. He was well-built, with a gunblade, Hyperion, at his side. The most interesting feature about him was his scar; it went from right to left, diagonally between his eyes.

"SURE?" Fujin looked at him.

"Sure. Meet you back at the cabin. In an hour?" Seifer replied.

"AFFIRMATIVE," Fujin said.

Seifer sat back down on the edge of the pier, watching at the point where the sun had marked the end of the day. He heard his two companions walk away. As he absent-mindedly watched the horizon, he heard footsteps behind him.

"I told you, I don't want..." Seifer turned around, but stopped mid-sentence.

It was the landlady who had rented them the cabin in FH. "Seifer! Come quickly! I don't know who done it, but please! Come!" The landlady, Mrs. Rosbet screamed hysterically. Seifer leapt to his feet and tried to calm the woman down, but she refused to be calmed down. She just kept repeating that Seifer had to go with her.

"OK, Mrs. Rosbet. Show me what happened!" Seifer said, as he realized that it would be the only way to calm the hysterical woman down.

She led him from the pier, and to the outskirts of FH. He followed after her, and he realized that she was leading him to the cabin they had rented. 'Damn! I wonder what happened,' Seifer thought, as the cabin came into view. When he got a bit nearer, he stopped dead in his tracks, and looked at the cabin.

The front door had been wrenched off of its hinges, and lay shattered on the floor a few metres away from the cabin. Personal belongings lay strewn across the floor, and water was leaking from the wooden building. Seifer walked up to the scene of destruction, taking in the sight. He walked inside, and saw the source of the water. Someone had been in the cabin, and burst the water pipes. Pieces of the walls were laying strewn about, floating on the water. Someone know what they were doing.

He stepped over a ripped bedspread, and looked slowly around at the remains. The water was at least two inches deep, and at the back of the cabin a car-sized hole had been created.

He walked into the bathroom, and saw that some of the tiles had been wrenched from the wall, and thrown at the shower, where the shower doors had been smashed. He waslked back into the main room, and saw a photo frame lying face-down on one of the ruined beds. He waded over to it, and picked it up. The frame was ruined, and the glass was missing, but the photo itself was fine. It was the day that Seifer first went to the orphanage. There was younged versions of Selphie, Quistis, himself, Squall, Zell, Irvine, Matron and Cid. He gazed at it, thinking of the happier times, but was soon brought back to reality.

"Yo! Seif! What happened here?" Raijin asked, as he stepped over the wreckage.

"I don't know. Someone trashed the place, and trashed it good. Where's Fujin?" Seifer replied, his gaze still lingering on the faded picture.

"She's outside. Doesn't want to see it, ya know?"

"OK, but she's gonna have to come in to salvage what she can of her things. I'll go outside and get her." With that, Seifer strode over to the doorway and went outside. He saw Fujin, talking to Mrs. Rosbet. She had calmed down now, but was still shaking.

"Fuj, you're going to have to come in to grab your stuff, OK?"

"AFFIRMATIVE." And with that, Fujin strode into the wreckage of the cabin. Seifer heard a thud and then Raijin howling in pain. By the sound of it, Fujin had kicked Raijin in the shin. Hard.

Seifer walked over the Mrs. Rosbet.

"I'll pay for the damage..." he started, but Mrs. Rosbet interruped.

"No, there's really no need. It's not as if you done it yourselves. The cabin was going to be knocked down anyway, so I suppose it will have to be, now. Don't worry yourself over it." Mrs. Rosbet then turned away, and started back to her own house, which was opposite the cabin.

He watched her leave, and then walked back inside the cabin. Fujin and Raijin had piled most of their things into three rather wet travelling bags. Seifer helped them finish, and then they all walked out of the front door. They walked towards the pier, and then looked back at the cabin. The cabin still had water trickling out of the door, but it was hard to make out in the gloom. Then, they walked onto the pier.

They sat on the pier, with their legs dangling over the edge. Here they sat, for over an hour, until it got chilly.

"What are we going to do? We haven't got anywhere to stay..." Seifer trailed off. He looked over the ocean, towards the blurred outline that was Balamb. He had tried to keep his mind off of the place he had once called home, but that got more and more difficult as the days went by.

"Maybe if we got SeeD involved..." Seifer thought out loud.

"No way! Not after ... ya know ..." Raijin looked towards Seifer, feeling uncomfortable.

"NOT WELCOME," Fujin added.

"We're going to have to accept that what happened has happened, instead of running away from the truth. Every time something like this happens, it needs to be sorted out, instead of us running somewhere else and the same happening there." Seifer looked at his companions. "We need to get this sorted out, even if it does mean getting SeeD involved. We'll have to face this someday, might as well get it over with. Let's go and see Mayor Dobe. He might be able to call SeeD for us." With that, Seifer turned around, grabbed their bags, and looked once more at the hazy outline of Balamb. They walked in silence, heading towards the centre of the city, the Mayor's home.

When they finally reached their destination, Seifer had barely knocked when the door was flung open. The person at the door was someone who he didn't expect ...

How was my first chapter? Please review!  
Ruby Dragon 


	2. Chapter II

The road to Forgiveness chapter II

"Squall!" Seifer stumbled backwards, surprised. He felt a whirlwind of emotions wash through him, at the sight of his rival and childhood friend. Squall was equally surprised, but he hid his emotions.

"What are you doing here?" Raijin asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Squall replied.

"Yo, Squall, who is it?" Zell asked from the house, his voice getting nearer. "Is it someone ..." he trailed off as he appeared in the doorway. "You!" he shouted, his voice one of shock and horror, mingled with fury.

"Zell!" Squall warned. Zell took one last look at Seifer, Fujin and Raijin before walking back inside.

"We ... need to talk to SeeD. We were going to contact you through the mayor, but that isn't necessary anymore." Seifer said, staring at the floor.

"You'd better come in," Squall said icily, moving to the side to allow them to enter. They entered, and started to climb the spiral staircase, while Squall closed the door. They walked into the room at the top of the staircase, and stopped still. The mayor and his wife, Flo, were sitting in the middle of the room. Surrounding them was his childhood friends and his ex-girlfriend: Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, Zell, and Rinoa. Even Cid and Matron were there. He vaguely heard Squall climbing the short flight of stairs behind him.

Seifer swallowed audibly, attracting the attention of everyone in the room.

"You've got a lot of nerve, showing up here," Zell grumbled.

Squall squeezed past the trio in the doorway. "They have to talk to members of SeeD," Squall stated. He then went and sat next to Rinoa.

"What is the problem, my child?" Matron asked. Seifer flinched. There were too many memories about Matron. Mostly, he remembered when he had joined sides with her. Except it wasn't Matron. It was Ultimecia, a sorceress from the future. The one person Seifer wanted to forget the most. She raped his mind over and over again, bending him to her will.

Matron sighed. One woman had destroyed hundreds of families, and ripped apart the souls of those who were in her service. Seifer was one of those people with a tortured soul. His surroundings would never allow him to forget the multitude of villainous acts that he committed against his will.

"You shouldn't let past events get in the way of forgiveness," Matron said, reading Seifer's mind.

"But ..." Seifer started, but he was cut off.

"No buts. I participated in the same acts, but I was still forgiven. Trust your friends more. Would they desert someone they have spent most of their lives with?" Matron said, firmly but gently.

Irvine cleared his throat. "Aren't you here to speak with SeeD? If you are, hurry up. I'm sure everyone has got something that they'd rather be getting on with."

Seifer nodded and started his story. He explained about the cabin, how it was demolished, and then requesting SeeD help.

"And why should we help you?" Zell asked rudely.

"Because everyone deserves a second chance," Cid answered.

All eyes in the room turned to him.

"The reason why peoply are what they are is because of choices. People make bad choices all the time. Not all of them have punishments as severe as Seifer's." He paused. Then he said: "What about SeeD? Isn't it about helping people, no matter what their past is?" He looked at all of their faces. "Doesn't he deserve this chance?" he asked softly.

Selphie looked around the room, and then stood up. "Cid's right. Besides, Seifer's part of the orphanage gang, isn't he? I think we should help him." Seifer gave her a small smile of gratitude. He knew that if anyone would understand, it would be Selphie. With her laid-back attitude, she had a big heart, and was willing to forgive anyone, but she was a deadly opponent in battle. A lot of people under-estimate her, which has given her the edge in battle.

"Yes, everyone deserves a second chance," Rinoa said, looking at Seifer.

"We need to get back to Garden, and tell the staff," Cid said, standing up. "Seifer, would you, Fujin and Raijin like to accompany us to Garden?" Cid asked, as everyone else started to stand.

Seifer glanced quickly at Fujin and Raijin, and then nodded.

"I'll find Xu and tell her," Quistis said, heading for the staircase.

"I'll go back and make an announcement that Seifer, Fujin and Raijin will be joining us." Then, talking to Seifer, "You can have a dorm room if you haven't got anywhere to stay. Your old dorm rooms haven't been used," Squall said.

"Thanks," Seifer said, as Squall walked out of the room, followed by Rinoa.

"See you in Garden," Selphie said, holding Irvine's hand. Irvine was silent, but tipped his hat in Seifer's direction.

"I'll be civil to you in Garden, but that doesn't mean I trust you," Zell said, as he walked past Seifer.

The last people to leave the room were Cid and Matron.

"Be brave, my child," Matron said, while Cid merely smiled encouragingly.

Seifer followed them out of the room with Fujin and Raijin, and then out into the night. The edge of the horizon was tinted a lighter shade than the rest of the sky, signalling that morning was approaching.

Seifer paused for a moment, looking at the full moon and the twinkling stars. He looked up on wonder, looking at the stars, looking at their immense beauty. Then, he followed Cid and Matron to the Ragnarok, the dragon-shaped airship that was originally built by Esthar to launch Sorceress Adel into space, which was now owned by Garden. They boarded, and entered the galley. They all sat down in one of the plush, comfy seats, and put on their seatbelts.

"We're just leaving for Balamb. Buckle up!" Selphie said cheerfully over the intercom. The jets powered up, and the Ragnarok slowly lifted into the air. As soon as there was enough altitude, they were thrown back into their seats as the Ragnarok shot forward, on its way home to Balamb Garden.

After sitting in silence for ten minutes, Selphie's cheerful voice came over the intercom again. "Hold on tight! We're going to have a bit of fun." With that, the Ragnarok took a deep nosedive, levelling out before it crashed into the clear ocean. The lower part of the dragon aircraft skimmed the waves, before climbing steeply again. They had just arrived at Balamb. Selphie steered the Ragnarok round the island once, before landing next to Balamb Garden.

Everyone on board the Ragnarok got off, and hurried into Garden. Seifer was one of the last people to get off the gleaming red aircraft, and he stood at the entrance to Garden, looking around apprehensively. He sensed Fujin and Raijin behind him, and drew comfort from their silent presence. He looked once more at Garden, and his face hardened in determination. He proudly walked through the gate separating the beautiful gardens from the lobby of Balamb Garden. He ignored the fearful look the gatekeeper shot at him, and strode into the lobby as the familiar Garden chime rang throughout the building.

Squall's voice was heard over the intercom. "I have an announcement to make. Seifer Almasy is going to be joining Garden for a while. Please be civil and make him feel a part of the life that he lost. Thank you." After Squall's announcement, shocked gasps echoed through the lobby. Seifer also heard snatches of conversations.

"Seifer Almasy?"

"Isn't he ..."

"Yes. Ultimecia's knight ..."

"How can he show his face here, where everyone hates him?"

Seifer felt that he deserved to be hated. He walked through the crowd of angry faces, until he reached his dorm room. He parted with Fujin and Raijin, who carried on down the hall to their dorm room. He stood outside the door, fearing it somehow, but he shook that fear off. He opened his door, and walked in. Something heavy hit his head. The world turned black, and he knew no more.

Seifer felt himself return to his body. He mentally assessed himself for damage. His body was fine, except for his head. His head felt as though it had been hit by a sledgehammer. He felt himself slowly return to consciousness. He groaned. The place where he lay was slightly damp, and he heard nothing, except the steady drip of water. His eyes fluttered open, and he lay still on his back for a while, until the pain in his head had lessened slightly. He slowly sat up, and surveyed the room he was in. The room was dark, and was circular in shape. He stood up, and tried to move towards the door. His left leg was shackled and attatched to a large iron ring by a slender, but durable chain. He decided to conserve his strength, so he didn't test how strong the chain was. He lay down and placed his head on the damp floor. He was in a deep sleep in minutes.

Fujin and Raijin had slept from dawn to dawn of the next day. They rose at six o'clock, and was going to go and get Seifer for their usual training session.

"Seifer! Training!" Raijin called, as they pounded on the door.

"ODD," Fujin commented. They tried the door. It swung open without any resistance, so they went in. The bed hadn't been slept in, a large rock lay in the middle of the floor, and there was blood near the doorway. There was signs of something being dragged to the window. At the window, the blinds flapped in the early morning breeze. The signs were obvious - Seifer had been kidnapped. 

Did you like it?

Thanks to BANZAINIPPON and Gunblade Girl for reviewing!

Ruby Dragon 


	3. Chapter III

**The Road to forgiveness - Chapter III**

Squall looked up, startled, as Fujin and Raijin marched angrily into his office. He paused in the middle of signing his name on an important document. As soon as Fujin was in front of his desk, she slammed her hands down angrily.

"SEIFER!" she bellowed.

"What do you mean?" Squall asked calmly.

"Seifer's ... gone. Got knocked on the head and taken, ya know?" Raijin explained his comrade's outburst.

"How do you know this?" Squall asked.

"SEE!" Fujin said, seizing Squall's arm. She dragged him through Garden to Seifer's dorm room, Raijin following. They ignored the looks people were shooting them. They stood in the doorway of Seifer's dorm room, where Fujin first pointed at the rock, the blood, and finally at the drag marks leading to the window.

"FIND!" Fujin yelled, her eye watering. Fujin had lost her other eye to a Grat when she first started training. She wore a black patch over her empty eye socket, which was heavily scarred.

"Do you have any idea who would have a grudge against him?" Squall asked.

"WORLD," Fujin sneered sarcastically in response to the stupid question.

"I mean anyone specifically," Squall explained.

"Balamb, Balamb Garden, Galbadia, Galbadia Garden and Trabia Garden would all hold grudges, ya know?" Raijin replied.

"Under the circumstances, which place is more likely to hold a grudge?" Squall asked.

"Balamb Garden," Raijin said without hesitation.

"Why?" Squall asked, testing their motives.

"Nobody else knows where his dorm room is, ya know?" Raijin replied. "It's probably someone we know really well, ya know? And whoever it is, it's someone who was here when we were, too."

Squall had to admit that it was likely to be true. "I'll send a message over the intercom," he said, leaving the room.

When Seifer woke, it was still damp. He seemed to be in the same room. He took a good look around the room, and noticed that there was low-level lighting set in the lower part of the walls. His left ankle throbbed, because of the manacle that linked him to the ring. He sat up, and then peeled back the bottom of his trousers to look at the damage. His ankle had swollen slightly from him moving around in his sleep. He had grazes on his ankle, which stung, as they slowly started to seep blood. His head felt better after resting. He lay back down, with his arms folded under his head to support it.

He sat up, startled, when he heard the door click as it was unlocked, and then swung open. A man entered holding a gun, which was pointed at Seifer.

He stayed by the entrance, and squeezed the trigger. Seifer felt it hit him, and was surprised to feel no pain. He suddenly felt sleepy, despite his nap before, and he slumped forwards.

When Seifer finally returned to consciousness, he found himself in the same situation that Squall had been in about a year ago. He finally realized where he was. He was in the Deling District Prison, more commonly known as the D-District Prison. He was chained up on a cross-like metal board, on the same place where Squall had been tortured as he had ruthlessly questioned him. He was holding up the majority of his weight by his arms. Although he was able to support his weight, the muscles in his upper arms and shoulders were starting to protest from holding his body up for so long.

He rattled the chains binding his arms to the cross as he tried to break free. He heard someone nearby laugh, a laugh that was full of hate.

"You won't break free that easily," said a person who stepped out of the shadows concealing him, and stood before Seifer.

"Nida! What in Hyne's name are you doing here?" Seifer asked, surprised.

Something about this question made the other person laugh again.

"What? Don't believe I could do this sort of thing?" he said. He then imitated himself as he would talk in Garden. "Yes sir, no sir, reports negative, sir," he mimicked.

"But why? I don't understand." Seifer asked, confused.

"Why isn't important. Now that I have you here, I can have a lot of fun!" he said, a manic gleam in his eye.

Seifer felt a shudder run through him, as he imagined what sort of things he might have planned.

"What sort of fun?" Seifer asked warily.

"My sort of fun. Stuff that's fun for me, but I doubt you'd like it," the other man said, looking up at Seifer.

The muscles of his arms and shoulders were hurting even more now, after trying to break free. He closed his eyes for a moment, and located a space in the back of his mind where he could dull the pain ... for now.

"What's the matter? Is that hurting you?" he said, in a mock attempt of sympathy.

Seifer gritted his teeth, as he looked down at the man tormenting him. "When are you going to let me go?" Seifer asked, hoping he wasn't going to get the answer he was expecting.

"Not for a long time. Of course, it all depends on how you behave, as well," he replied, with a demonic grin plastered over his face. "No more time to chat. I have to go. I have much more important things to do," he said, and started to walk off.

"Wait a second!" Seifer called, thinking of something.

"What?" the other man replied.

"How can we be in the D-District Prison? It was destroyed a fortnight ago, wasn't it?" Seifer asked, frowning in thought.

"Yes. I faked the destruction of the prison so that I could use it for my own purposes. Does that comfort you?" he replied, and walked out of the room.

The man with the gun was in front of Seifer again, and fired a second shot into Seifer. Seifer was asleep within moments, with the drug quickly taking effect.

"And please could anyone with any information about Seifer's disappearance come and contact me. Thank you." Squall finished, and the familiar Garden chime rang throughout the building.

"All we can do now is wait," Raijin said, sitting down heavily in one of the chairs lining Squall's office. He put his head in his hands, and stared morosely at the floor.

"WILL. FIND," Fujin consoled.

"I have a question to ask both of you," Squall said.

"WHAT?" Fujin responded.

"Where do you think Seifer would be held?"

"I don't know. I would say the D-District Prison, but that got destroyed 2 weeks ago, ya know?" Raijin said.

Fujin didn't say anything, but shrugged her shoulders.

"It's probably in Galbadia. It would be stupid to keep him in Balamb, because he would be noticed, ya know?" Raijin continued.

"Right. You two wait here. I'll be back in a minute," Squall said, before he walked through the door, closing it behing him.

Fujin and Raijin looked at each other, silently communicating. Fujin sat in the chair next to Raijin, where they both waited in the silence of the office, which was interrupted by the rhythmic ticking of the clock on the wall.

Squall returned after about 5 minutes with Selphie, Irvine, Zell, Quistis and Rinoa.

"We're going to use the Ragnarok to try and find Seifer. Selphie will be the pilot, and we'll all keep our eyes open for him," Squall explained.

"Shouldn't we carry out Seifer's mission first?" Rinoa asked.

"No. We need to find our client before we can do that," Squall answered.

"Booya! Let's go!" Selphie said, her eyes shining with delight of flying her beloved aircraft.

They walked out of Squall's office with Fujin and Raijin, and managed to squeeze everyone into the elevator. They filed out when the doors opened again on the first floor, then they walked out of Garden and stood next to the gleaming red airship.

They all boarded, and Selphie immediately went to the cockpit of the magnificent dragon. Everyone followed Selphie, because it was the place with the best view. They all grabbed hold of something while Selphie powered up the engines, and the Ragnarok slowly started to gain altitude.

"Now remember! We're going to fly over Balamb to find any suspicious areas where Seifer might be held. If we can't find anything, we'll do the same to Galbadia!" Squall yelled over the noise of the engines. Selphie nodded.

Selphie carefully piloted the Ragnarok towards the fire cavern. What was surprising was the large stone blocking the entrance. Squall indicated for Selphie to land. Squall, Zell and Irvine exited the Ragnarok and walked towards the blocked entrance.

"It's been there for quite a while," Irvine observed.

"We still need to check it. There's no telling if it has been used as a lair before they took Seifer," Squall explained.

"Move then!" Zell said, facing the rock. Squall and Irvine moved out of the way. Zell closed his eyes, concentrating, and raised his arms over his head. "Water!" Zell said, pointing his hands towards the boulder. The rock exploded, as the water crushed it.

Zell waited a few moments for the remnants to shift, and then entered the fire cavern, followed by Squall and Irvine. The place was hot, with steam rising continuously from the lava. They walked through the cave, looking for anything unusual. They finally reached the crater where cadets usually faced Ifrit before being allowed to enter their practical SeeD exam. Suddenly, Ifrit leapt out of the crater, spraying lava everywhere.

"The one who you seek is not here," Ifrit roared, before the trio could say anything. "Look in the place you expect the Knight to be, Lion of Balamb. It is a place you have all been yourselves at one point in the Ultimecia incident." Before anyone could ask him about his peculiar statement, he had disappeared back into his fiery home.

"What the hell do you think that means?" Zell snorted, looking at his companions.

"It sounds like the Guardians know where he is, and either can't tell us or won't tell us." Squall said. While Irvine and Zell pondered the meaning of the cryptic message, Squall silently communicated with his GF, Bahamut. "Where is he?" Squall asked the King of Dragons.

He heard Bahamut laugh, as if this question amused him. "You know in your heart where he is. Learn to forgive him, and you will find him. You may find the answer is more obvious than you realize."

Squall frowned, and then relayed the information Bahamut had given him to his comrades.

"There's no use staying here. We might as well go back to the Ragnarok and look somewhere else," Irvine said. Both Squall and Zell agreed, so they made their way back to the entrance, and then boarded the Ragnarok.

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**Thanks to Gunblade Girl and Matron Raenee for reviewing!**

**Ruby Dragon**


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